The waning days of summer and the arrival of another school year make many people a little melancholy.

Unless you're in the music industry. Then it's party time.

With gift-giving holidays on the horizon, the final third of the year always brings the highest concentration of superstar releases and big-name projects, whether it's the hottest new music or the most extensive and ambitious box set retrospective. It's a strategy that works, too; in 2012, for instance nearly 40 percent of all album sales took place during the fourth quarter.

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This year is no different, with the likes of Eminem, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Paul McCartney, Elton John, Drake and scores of others ready to rock our world -- and our bank accounts. With this glut of attention-worthy music on the way, here's a look at the 20 releases we're most excited about.

nine inch nails, "Hesitation Marks" (Sept. 3): Trent Reznor's claim to fame emerges from four years in mothballs sounding refreshed from the break.

Sheryl Crow, "Feels Like Home" (Sept. 10): Going country is really not that big a stretch for the veteran songstress who, with the help of Brad Paisley and some Nashville behind-the-scenes A-listers, has come up with some songs that are maybe even too country for country radio.

Janelle Monae, "The Electric Lady" (Sept. 10): The multifaceted Monae hasn't disappointed us yet, and her second full-length album, executive produced by Diddy and Big Boi, is stacked with A-list guests such as Prince, Miguel, Esperanza Spalding, Erykah Badu and Solange.

Keith Urban, "Fuse" (Sept. 10) and Alan Jackson, "The Bluegrass Album" (Sept. 24): A couple of mainstream country stalwarts take divergent paths on their latest releases. With a popularity boost from "American Idol," Urban gets a little poppier this time out, while Jackson, as his album's title indicates, heads in a rootsier, down-home direction.

Drake, "Nothing Was the Same" (Sept. 17): The Canadian hip-hop star will undoubtedly have his share of guests on his third studio album -- including, he's said, Whitney Houston and Curtis Mayfield from the Great Beyond.

Icona Pop, "This Is ... " (Sept. 24): The Swedish electropop duo that dazzled us with "I Love It" and "All Night" goes long-form on its first full-length effort.

Elton John, "The Diving Board" (Sept. 24): A dozen new songs by John and lyricist Bernie Taupin. Stripped-down production by T-Bone Burnett. Who could ask for more?

Sting, "The Last Ship" (Sept. 24): The former Police man's first set of all-new material in a decade is highly personal, inspired by his English upbringing and sharing a title with the Broadway musical he's developing about his home town's shipbuilding trade.

Gov't Mule, "Shout!" (Sept. 24): The instrumentally intense group doubles the pleasure on its latest outing, with a second disc sporting guest singers -- including Dave Matthews, Grace Potter, Steve Winwood and more -- singing versions of all the songs on the first.

Justin Timberlake, "The 20/20 Experience -- 2 of 2" (Sept. 30): It's been a big year f or the reformed boy-band star, with one album already (his first in nearly seven years), a big summer tour with Jay-Z and multiple MTV Video Music Awards. The saga continues with a second release, which features guest appearances by Jay-Z and Drake.

Danny Brown, "Old" (Sept. 30): The underground Detroit rapper's third full album has been a long time coming and will feature guest appearances by A$AP Rocky, Charli XCX, Schoolboy Q and others.

Miley Cyrus, "Bangerz" (Oct. 8); Katy Perry, "Prism (Oct. 22); Lady Gaga, "Artpop" (Nov. 11): These three pop divas are poised for the battle royale of the season -- initially pegged as a two-singer race until the controversy over Cyrus' VMA performance -- as well as her summer hit "We Can't Stop" -- vaulted her into the mix. All promise works that will re-define their craft and images, although Perry's "Roar" and Gaga's "Applause" are fairly safe and familiar calling cards.

Patty Griffin, "Silver Bell" (Oct. 8): It isn't often that we get excited about a 13-year-old "lost" album. But there's plenty of legend behind what was to be the Texas singer-songwriter's third album. The Dixie Chicks' recordings of a couple of its songs have kept it on the radar for all of these years.

Pearl Jam, "Lightning Bolt" (Oct. 15): The Seattle rockers worked with longtime studio partner Brendan O'Brien on their first new album in four years, releasing the single "Mind Your Manners" in July. Guitarist Mike McCready promises it will rock like fans want the band to.

Paul McCartney, "New" (Oct. 15): The former Beatle's first set of all, well, "new," material since 2007 has been preceded by the title track and features production by Mark Ronson, Ethan Johns and Giles Martin, the son of longtime Beatles producer George Martin.

TLC, TBA (Oct. 15): Chili and T-Boz are back together with original mentor L.A. Reid, with four new songs -- including Lady Gaga and Ne-Yo co-writers -- for a greatest-hits set that will accompany the debut of the VH1 biopic "CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story."

Arcade Fire, "Reflektor" (Oct. 29): The arty Canadian troupe has been quiet since its stunning Album of the Year Grammy Award win for 2010's "The Suburbs." Its fourth full-length is produced by the eyebrow-raising choice of LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy, so brace for something new, unexpected -- and most likely exciting.

Eminem, "The Marshall Mathers LP 2" (Nov. 5): Word about the Detroit rapper's eighth studio album came down like lightning during the MTV Video Music Awards and set the Twitterverse all atwitter. The Billy Squier-sampling first single, "Berzerk," came out last week and the executive producer tandem of Dr. Dre and Rick Rubin signals that Slim Shady continues to up his game -- no small matter considering "The Marshall Mathers LP," released in 2000, sold more than 27 million copies worldwide.

To Be Determined: Beyonce's label says she hasn't scrapped a slew of material as one of her collaborators claimed, so there are still hopes her fifth album will emerge this fall. ... U2 has been working with producer Danger Mouse on a follow-up to 2009's "No Line on the Horizon," but latest forecasts are a fall release is a longshot.